RIVAL WITH A CAUSE: USC SONG GIRLS TAKE THE SC PLUNGE FOR CHARITY

Hope that uniform is Wash n’ Wear!

“Wish they all could be U-C-L-A Girls.”  [= KLove’s Uncle]

Check your Hatred at the Door:  Today, Bruins and Trojans come together and Pool their resources to raise money for a very worthy cause (by getting very wet!)

A female Police Officer from the local Drug and Gang Task Force was recently shot while on duty.  She is now confined to a wheelchair.  When she came up to the microphone on Saturday at USC, and explained how her life was almost taken away from her, and how the “Swim With Mike” organization has, in essence, GIVEN HER BACK HER LIFE, the LAST thing you’re thinking about is UCLA vs. USC.

Thanks to the Charitable, USC-based Foundation that resides at swimwithmike.org, this young Officer is going to be able to attend USC as a Communications student, and will get an entirely new lease on life.  Rivalry?  What Rivalry?  (Maybe the USC Song Girls saw us sincerely tear up, and that’s why they were so cordial about all the intrusive photography that followed — or maybe they are just used to it.  Either way, we appreciate it).

If you like the photos that accompany this article, we urge you to make a donation to swimwithmike.org.  They have been helping people for almost 30 years now, through these events, which include silent auctions.  They raised over a million dollars today, which should pay for quite a few USC Tuitions.  We would love for you to buy some “Neu Era” merchandise from OUR store (linked to the right), but today, we don’t mind if you disburse your money in a way that will bring you more satisfaction than buying a t-shirt probably will.  And you can’t write the t-shirt off your taxes.

We wonder what percentage of “readers” are actually even reading this (versus what percentage just immediately scrolled down to the photos), and from that, if even one single person will check out their website.  Well, if only one person does, maybe it will be Henry Samueli (Bruin benefactor and Owner of the Anaheim Ducks), and he’ll match what was raised today.

SO… We have some rules:  We don’t want any negative comments about the USC Song Girls.  We don’t even want you COMPARING them to UCLA.  We don’t want them angry about us sharing the photos, and if they are getting creamed by nasty feedback, then they SHOULD get angry.  Accordingly, we have selected what we think are the most flattering shots, out of the 600 or so that were available.  We picked the pics that we thought you would think are hot, so please enjoy them.  However, don’t start thinking that they are superior to the Bruin Girls, because we also have photos that were NOT very flattering, that we would be forced to share, just to keep the record straight.  But we have NO DESIRE to do that, so just DON’T COMPARE, please.  And, if any of the Girls pictured are offended by the photos, we hope that they please remember that this is all for CHARITY.  We don’t sell the photos, nor do we charge any fees, and we don’t even have any ads, pop-up or otherwise!  If that is not good enough, the interested party should write to us and specify the problem, and we will try to oblige.  And by the way, all the “Hate” on this site is intentionally over-the-top for humor, so please don’t let that cloud your judgement about how good these photos look, and how they might even encourage some viewers to donate to Mike.

———– 

Where are the UCLA Girls, you ask?  What happened to “coming together?”  What we MEANT, was that the event was open to the Public, that there were some Bruins in attendance, that some other Bruins helped in the Prep, and finally, that the LIFEGUARDS on duty were Courtesy of UCLA.  Unfortunately (and that is a deluxe understatement), the Bruin Spirit Squad is not a part of this event.  IF ONLY the Bruins had a Charity that required taking a swim!  They probably DO, but Mollie is keeping it from me!

Oh well — In the meantime, you’ll have to get by with the USC Song Girls – Great Sports all – in the following 23 photos.  And assuming that we don’t get too many death threats and bomb scares after this first batch is published, there will be more — many more — coming soon.

Remember — BE NICE — We know that you are going to be dying to say stuff like “Well, they don’t have a Brianna or a Katie.”  Don’t bother.  Insults in any form about the subjects of these photos will not be tolerated, and that includes saying that they can’t hold a candle to their Bruin counterparts.  After what they GAVE of themselves yesterday, they don’t deserve anything even remotely bad. 

And by the way, all these photos have “mouse-over captions,” that are 99.9% nice, and the photos all ENLARGE when you click on them, most to 1200 pixels across, which is great to right-click onto your Desktop, to be your new Desktop Wallpaper.  And please don’t forget about the Swim with Mike “Cause,” that makes it all possible.SC’s “Dance Force” used Asian fans to entertain the crowd, which included one Asian fan (at that moment)

Pete Carroll called it the Greatest Event that there is.  Maybe this experience is what keeps him from leaving for another crack at the NFL?

Could she be the Real Power behind the Pete Carroll Throne (or just someone who happened to be sitting there)?

Bedazzlers.

Check out the “Shadow Horsehead!”  Is that for Traveler?

Just in case you were studying/partying all night and are getting a little “leap-deprived.”

As you can see, they now exhibit precision timing, a marked improvement over just last year. (And we DON’T mean that as a BACK-HANDED compliment — It’s just an honest observation of a positive trend)

This one might bring up an old argument, but we STILL feel like these are not inherently Offensive;  What we DO know is that readers will say that the Girls look awesome.  Hopefully, the Girls will tolerate them, since it will HONESTLY increase exposure for the Charity, by tens of thousands of people probably.

Very nice group pose.  And so many cameras going off, it was like a Kobe Free Throw.

Charity, Sweet Charity.

We HAD to “bury the hatchet” (because there was no place to store it!)

Sanchez and Mustain aren’t the ONLY talented trojans that are hard to choose between.

Now do you understand the “truce?”

This gives a whole new meaning to the old maxim “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies CLOSER.”

It’s impressive that they actually look better without their uniforms (and not just because of our genetic aversion to Cardinal & Gold);  Not all 20-year olds can say that.

HONESTLY — We feel very blessed to get an opportunity like this, and hope that some more money is raised for Mike’s “Kids” because of it.

Love the expression of the Girl on the left — like a movie poster for a Keira Knightly-Jane Austen film

Okay, so maybe they aren’t possessed by the Devil, but they are “Tubular Belles.”    

Haven’t loved Tubes this much since Fee Waybill was around (”Don’t Touch Me There!”)

Don’t know which Players those are, but another one passed, saying he “couldn’t swim AND push someone at the same time.” [100% True Story]  Must not have been Reggie Bush!

The Joy of Giving.

WHO ever said that trojans are sole-less?  A lot of shots that didn’t make the Night One Cut inadvertantly came out “soleful” like this one.

“Everyone out of the Pool!”  That’s the last one for today…but “popular demand” or some word of donations would cause many, many more to be posted.

Comments

12 responses to “RIVAL WITH A CAUSE: USC SONG GIRLS TAKE THE SC PLUNGE FOR CHARITY”

  1. jp Avatar
    jp

    t-h, i will respect your wishes…so no disparaging comments from me…hehe…but i’m glad these girls are helping out a good cause.

  2. dmarcus Avatar
    dmarcus

    Glad to see that a fellow Birmingham “Brave” has an eye for worthwhile charity events; cause, scenery and that’s about it….Your site is kind of like an SI swimsuit issue light….something to keep the blood circulating during the off-season….

  3. Josephine Bruin Avatar
    Josephine Bruin

    great cause – Swim with mike!

  4. bob powley Avatar

    [Editor’s Note: I’m sorry, but I had to remove your comment. I asked for people to refrain from being unkind, since the only reason that they “exposed” themselves to ridicule was to raise money for a good cause. Also, I understand where you’re coming from, but honestly, your seemingly valid observation was more of just my bad photography/lighting. So if you feel that way, then it means that it is MY fault — also, it’s my fault, for selecting shots that weren’t as flattering as I thought. Sorry again for censoring your right to Free Speech, but I promised that I wouldn’t let them take any “hits” because of my photos of them at a Charity Event.]

  5. Robert Avatar
    Robert

    Very nice, that Brunnette pictured with the Blonde on the picture below carroll is not too bad at all!! You were doing so good, showing this group fine looking girls, but you had to RUIN IT by including pete carroll. Oh well, I guess there is a price to pay for everything – by looking at his mug.

  6. NFL Adam Avatar

    The photo I’m looking for is of the girl in the full song girl outfit *after* she gets out of the pool. That had to be awesome.

    [th’s Note: That’s funny. I have lots of them, but they weren’t all that great. Not to be mean, but she just looked like a drowned rat, like anyone would. And no, the outfit didn’t cling to her like a wet t-shirt. Maybe I’ll try to work one into the next pictorial, but it just wasn’t as sexy as the ones that I’ve been selecting instead.]

  7. t-bone Avatar
    t-bone

    [comment deleted]

    [t-h’s note: I read your comment, and it might be accurate, but I couldn’t leave it up. I have asked for people to be NICE to these Girls, because they were in Bikinis only to help a very worthy cause, and because they are being nice enough to ALLOW us to post these shots without protesting. That being said, have you got any photos of the other squad that you mentioned?]

  8. ROBBY Avatar
    ROBBY

    Ha check out the link from SI on Campus. These girls are being torn apart! BUT they aren’t up to standards for the hype they get. Check out the links some obsessive dudes posted of SI’s Cheerleader of the Week (FSU Cheerleader – Alyssa Sponaugle).

    I hate the Noles, but they got a point, AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL & cool as sh*t! Real chick, definitely not the norm for a cheerleader. Her in a swimsuit is worth seeing! Trust me!!!

  9. joe mammy Avatar
    joe mammy

    Southern girls are so much better looking.

  10. Robert Avatar
    Robert

    Dear ROBBY and joe mammy,
    I looked at the photos of Alyssa Sponaugle of FSU and she is pretty, but there is absolutely no comparison between her and any of the Bruin girls such as Katie, Brianna, Elise, Michelle and Kristen . . . none! the Bruin girls are clearly HEAD AND SHOULDERS above Alyssa.

  11. Kacey Avatar
    Kacey

    Sorry Robert – going to have to agree with Robby & Joe Mammy about Alyssa and the southern girls! You obviously have a slight obsession with bruin chicks but if you look up fsu, uga, bama, miami, uf you will definitely be proved wrong. A REAL BEAUTY!!! Her swimsuit pics surfing far surpass anyones I’ve yet to see!!!!!!!

    [T-H’s Note: Sorry for the slight edits. A couple of the UCLA Girls read these comments, and I don’t want any feelings to get hurt. But I still left your point intact.]

  12. Nevin Avatar
    Nevin

    You will soon change your mind Robert!

    http://nachofoto.com/photo-of-Sport-Illustrated-Ch-4f8ba7f21ee6

    http://nachofoto.com/photo-of-Alysa-Sponaugle-SEXY-4508abc9b9f0

    http://nachofoto.com/photo-of-Alysa-Sponaugle-Chee-41d6a77a1b9b

    http://nachofoto.com/foto?i=4da692ae29a4&photo=Sexy-Noles-Cheerlead-4da692ae29a4

    [T-H’s Note: Sorry for the editing. But these UCLA Girls are like little sisters to me, and I can’t let people rag on them (even by “implication”) on my site. However, I still left your links intact, and I didn’t censor your opinion — that SEC Girls Rule. I can deal with THAT, but those two specific comments were too mean. FUNNY, and maybe sorta possibly true in some rare cases, but too cruel to not delete. I hope you understand, and don’t think that I’m just another L.A. weasel.]